S.J.Budd

I recently volunteered to work as a slush pile reader. I did this for a number of reasons. As an aspiring writer myself I know exactly what it's like to submit work for consideration, to pour over your labour of love, watching your story take shape, take hold and then taking the plunge and sending it out there in the hope of it being accepted for publication.  I also love reading, and working as a slush pile reader seemed something fun to do. I also have to admit that I had a slightly ulterior motive. Working as a slush pile reader  would allow me to  gain a valuable insight into how publishers select manuscripts. And I'm going to share my insiders knowledge. So the good news is  that if the publishers are small and independent they're probably run by writers for writers. There's also a very good chance that the slush readers are writers too and have volunteered for the love of reading and to help support their fellow comrades of writing.  For example when un

If you're a fan of fantasy literature then this man needs no introduction. He's a master of his craft and his first two novels, The Name of the Wind and  The Wise Man's Fear the first two instalments of  The Kingkiller Chronicles deserve to have a place on every book shelf. They are simply a must read. Fans of Patrick Rothfuss are eagerly impatiently awaiting the final instalment of the trilogy, The Doors of Stone which does not currently have a release date, believe me the wait is far worse than waiting for the fifth series of Game of Thrones . However Patrick Rothfuss has released a novella titled The Slow Regard of Silent Things which is set in the same world of The Kingkiller Chronicles and is centred around Auri a character featured in his first two books and is one of the more mysterious characters featured. I was a bit apprehensive in reading this as there have been mixed reviews even the author himself warns that the reader may not enjoy it. I think this

Recently I received my second dose of good fortune, one of my short stories has been accepted by a magazine. This is my second short story to be published and I'm over the moon. You can read it here , titled Hold Me Tight by S.J.Budd   at Siren's Call Publications which produces a free ezine available on their website, it's well worth a read and includes flash fiction, short stories, poetry, artwork and interviews with WiHM founder Hannah Neurotic and writer/director/filmmaker Heidi Lee Douglas. The issue in which I am fortunate enough to be included in is  celebrating Women in Horror Month which you may have heard about. It aims to provide women with the opportunity of exposure in a heavily male dominated genre. If you'd like to submit to Siren's Call Publications, and why not, you can visit the Short Dark Fiction Markets   for more details or go straight to their submission page

I have recently been blessed again with the news that every aspiring writer dreams of hearing; one of my short stories had been  accepted for publication. I was thrilled. I'd sent off my story in the belief  that it wasn't very good but I had written it specifically for that magazine and it would be better to submit and be rejected than to leave it and regret not trying. My joy soon turned to horror when the editor informed me they needed to make 18 revisions due to my poor grammar and punctuation. To be honest I had given birth to my second child three weeks ago meaning I was now functioning on very little sleep as well as being pre-occupied with not one, but now two little bundles of joy. In that position it's easy to make mistakes and not realise whilst writing. However the fact remains,  a unprofessional inexperienced writer in very quickly exposed through terrible screaming grammar and punctuation use in their work. 18 Revisions! I was horrified, I thought

It's very hard to start out as a writer, you need your stories to be highly original so that they will stand out and be memorable to editors. But how can you be sure that what your writing is original and not over done? Whilst researching short fiction markets for my page - Short Dark Fiction Markets - I came across a very useful list of short stories that have been over done. This page comes from Strange Horizons  who have complied a very detailed list of the types of stories they are sick of. They have also very kindly allowed for their list to be shared. www.strangehorizons.com Strange Horizons is a weekly magazine that specialises in speculative fiction and non fiction. They welcome short stories which feature science fiction, fantasy, horror and slipstream. This is a great magazine to be published in as some of their featured stories have been nominated or won various awards such as the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. Stories We've Seen Too Often at S

I love reading, but with the happy arrival of my baby girl, I don't really have much time for it. These days the only opportunities in which I find myself lost within pages are in the dark hours when my gorgeous baby girl decides she will rather stay up than sleep like normal people! So in these times I have been reading mostly short story anthologies. I've forgotten how much I love reading them. From a writer's perspective it's great to have an opportunity to explore lots of different writing styles and genres in a small amount of time. You can learn a lot about the craft of writing through reading short stories. I'd heard about Sanitarium Magazine whilst researching magazines to send my short stories to and amazingly they published one. Consequently I rushed out and bought it, nothing beats seeing your own work in print. P.S I'm in this issue but it would be a bit weird to review myself. Lady Pandore  by Scarlett Marmont I loved the imagery withi

I stumbled across this book by unfortunately watching it's film adaptation first which although is a really brilliant film, meant that I knew the whole plot before I turned the first page. However the film was so intriguing I couldn't resist. This is the debut novel of Diane Setterfield - and it's a very powerful debut most authors could only dream of. It's a very promising start, she has gone on to write another book titled - Bellman & Black , which is described as a dark atmospheric ghost story that gives The Thirteenth Tale a run for its money. The Thirteenth tale centres around the life of a fictional novelist, Vida Winter who has always remained elusive until she is struck down by a terminal illness. She enlists the help of a amateur biographer, Margaret Lea, by summoning her to write her biography and learn all her secrets. To familiarise herself with Vida Winter's work she reads her -  Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation . She finds hersel